This past year, some cruising friends generously gave me their old one when they traded up, but it kept deflating and before the summer was over it was no longer repairable. Here is a photo of my crew Alice making her way to shore on Meganisi Island after we left the dinghy behind in Vliho village.
Initially, I was nervous sailing without a dinghy - what if Eidos sinks! but after awhile I didn't even miss having one. At anchor, I stayed on board and if I needed to get to shore, I moved Eidos to a quay. So, I begun thinking, why get a dinghy in the first place? Don't need one! Still, it does limit one and there is always the safety factor.
Now that I have the opportunity to choose one I really want, what DO I want? Fiberglass, wood, plywood, another inflatable, plastic... There are so many on the market.
Inflatables are stable and tow well, but they are expensive, don't last very long and need an outboard to be effective. Hard dinghies on the other hand are less stable and don't always tow well but they last longer, can be repaired indefinitely and can be rowed, sailed and used with an outboard. Since I don't care much for motors of any kind - prefer the silence of rowing or sailing and also having given the inflatables their chance to prove their worth, decided to go the hard dinghy route next.
After doing some search online, I found several dinghies that I like:
Fatty Knees with a used one for sale in California for $2,000:
Great, it's the design that Lin and Larry Pardy like (they don't like motors either) but how do I get it to Greece? I checked into it and to ship one to Greece would cost about $3,000 plus tax and duty. Not doing that.
9 ft. Dyer Dhow, used one in New York for $2,300
A little bigger than I want, but great price. Once again, however, how to get it to Greece.
Here are a few more:
Bauer 8, new for $1,600
Portland Pudgy - an unsinkable all around dinghy (life raft, dinghy, sailboat) for $2,700.
Some of the dinghies that I like would need to be built, so I would have to hire a carpenter and pay for shipping of the kits.
Trinka 8 starting at $2750
Glen 8 Ball used for 1,000 Pounds from UK.
Eastport nesting pram kit for about $1,000.
Humble Bee kit for 2,000 Euros.
The Humble Bee is beautiful, the right size for my boat, rows, sails could even take an outboard. BUT! I'd have to build it as it only comes as a kit. And the kit with plans is almost 2,000 Euros.
Jordan Boats in UK sell the kit...
The plan purchased directly from the designer Iain Oughtred is about 104 Euros
The kit is 1050 Euros + shipping
And then there is the wood that is not included plus labour to build it as well as the sailing rig if I want it (which I do).
A carpenter based in Lefkas told me he could build an Optimist dinghy (too small for what I need) if I sent him the plans for about 2,500 Euros. I need to ask him about the Humble Bee.
Iain Oughtred also designed the 7'8" Auk:
and the 7'2" Auklet:
they both can carry three people.
I really like the Auklet.
On the inflatable side, there is the aluminum bottom Ribeye TL240 for 1750 Euros that I could easily buy locally from IBA in Nidri.
BUT!
If I buy an inflatable, I would also need to buy an outboard. Here are three I found:
Tohatsu, 2016 model 2.5 HP 4 stroke for $870
Mercury, 2016 model 2.5 HP 4 stroke for $898
Torquido electric outboard for about 1500 Euros
To a total of about 3,000 Euros including VAT.
So, that's the choice.
Should I get my friendly carpenter make me one, buy a used one in the UK and have it shipped, or give in and buy an inflatable (and motor) once I get back to Nidri?
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